


Close Enough

by hirilukit



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Late Night Conversations, i make up some stuff about how the ope ope no mi works (but not a lot), just 2 dudes who can't sleep, zoro has ocd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 10:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24848311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirilukit/pseuds/hirilukit
Summary: Law is sitting with his back against the foremast, his sword propped up next to him. He’s slouched forward, but upon hearing Zoro, he raises his head.“Can’t sleep?” Law asks him. He’s used to being the only one awake at these hours, and the appearance of the other swordsman is unexpected.Zoro isn’t surprised in the slightest. “No. Not until everyone else does.”
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 9
Kudos: 128





	Close Enough

**Author's Note:**

> This was just me wandering around, conceptually. Enjoy?

It’s around a quarter past two in the morning when Zoro steps out onto the lawn of the Thousand Sunny. The grass looks dark grey in the little moonlight there is, and the swing hangs solemn and empty, troubled by fitful gusts of wind. It’s exactly as Nami forecasted before going to bed hours ago: a breeze. Calm seas. Not a speck of land in sight. Brook is keeping watch at the head of the ship and Sanji in the back. 

Law is sitting with his back against the foremast, his sword propped up next to him. He’s slouched forward, but upon hearing Zoro, he raises his head. 

“Can’t sleep?” Law asks him. He’s used to being the only one awake at these hours, and the appearance of the other swordsman is unexpected.

Zoro isn’t surprised in the slightest. “No. Not until everyone else does.” This conversation is routine to him; he’s stayed up countless times with Robin as she reads, or as Nami loses track of time drawing maps, or Usopp, for various reasons. 

“And ‘everyone’ includes me?” Law sighs as Zoro sits down cross-legged on the grass in front of him. It’s a sufficient answer even without the “mmh” he offers in response. 

“Well, in that case, good luck.” He smiles a little, but not much. It’s merely punctuation that doesn’t reach his tired eyes or voice. 

Zoro doesn’t acknowledge this, and so the two of them sit in silence for a while. Law studies his face, trying to discern if the man is even watching him or not. He gives up and drops his head again. 

The wind rustles through the ship’s modest assortment of trees. Waves lap at the hull below them. Brook hums something every once in a while, short and experimental, that’s nearly lost to the wind. The ship creaks. The swing flops around a little in a particularly strong gust. Zoro’s breathing is steady, but not deep enough to indicate sleep. Law can hear these things. 

If only the wind would die down. 

Neither of them stir, until Law raises a hand.

“Room.” In the same instant, Zoro is poised to fight. He’d been watching after all, and now, in the faint blue light of the bubble, his eye is clearly open, alert, and distrustful. 

“Relax,” Law tells him, “using my powers tires me out.” He laces his fingers together and leans his arms on his knees, putting his clasped hands in full view of the swordsman. Not a threat. 

“I don’t do this often because it’s a pain to get moving again if something happens.” The opposite of a threat, a show of trust. After a moment, Zoro recognizes this, and his own hands move from his hip to mirror Law’s posture. The surgeon doesn’t say anything else, and the other stops watching him. Both look at the walls of the bubble. 

To Zoro, it’s strange. As he examines it, he finds that it only really appears blue or has substance if he looks directly at it; otherwise the hemisphere disappears. If he really stares hard, he can begin to discern a faint swirling pattern like the surface of a soap bubble. Devil fruits are just weird. It’s messing with his brain though, and he can feel a headache threatening to build if he doesn’t stop looking. Zoro rubs his eyes — both of them, still a habit after losing one; and exactly three times, not a habit, but a compulsion — and glances at Law, who’s still lost in whatever his thoughts are. 

To Law, it’s familiar. The bubble is in a literal sense an extension of his own being. He’s formed it so that it just surrounds the two of them, so as not to distract the watchmen from their duties. Under normal circumstances, the Room sphere gives off next to no light. Law has trained himself to maximize efficiency. One of this size could be sustainable for hours, if he wanted it to and he wasn’t doing anything else with his energy. This is a Room summoned to drain himself, not to fight, and it's accordingly brighter.

There’s something comforting about being surrounded by his powers, too. The sphere does nothing to block sound, it’s the wrong color, and he’s acutely aware of its boundary at all times, but it still reminds him of months spent with Corazon. Nights spent encased in a shell of silence, sleeping more soundly than he ever had before or ever would since.

“So,” Law says, probing for a distraction from his memory, “having fun yet?”

“Huh?”

“Staying up.”

Zoro snorts. “Maybe if I had a beer. Isn’t your glowy thing working yet?”

“I’m getting there,” he replies, and it’s true. He’s feeling more exhausted by the minute. “But why do you bother?”

“I already told you. I need to be the last person awake.” As Zoro says this, he flops back to lay on the grass and closes his eyes, hands now tucked under his head. 

The answer isn’t satisfactory, but Law doesn’t care enough to push him about it since he seems intent on being stubborn. Lack of trust clearly isn’t his issue, or else he wouldn’t be so relaxed. Now that Law thinks about it, Zoro is probably a little too comfortable.

“We are temporary allies in a pirates’ alliance. Don’t get too attached,” He tells him, in case he needed a reminder.

“Mhmm.” Zoro agrees with a hum, but he’s smirking in the blue half-light. Law glares at him.

“I’m not your crewmate.”

Zoro’s eye opens. “You’re close enough,” he remarks. 

There’s quiet again, because Law doesn’t know quite what to say about that. Luffy’s over-friendliness was already an issue without his crew joining in. To be honest, he’s really too tired by now to deal with it.

He stands up, swaying a little on his feet. The Room has definitely done its job. It’s too much of an expense, at this point, to find whatever bunk or couch they assigned to him earlier, or even to remember what it was. He takes a few steps until he’s standing beside the man on the ground, looking down at him. 

“Move over, will you?” Law grumbles at him. There’s a victorious glint in Zoro’s eye as he obliges. 

In a moment, they’re both spread out on the lawn. Law closes his eyes, but Zoro gazes up at the stars through the dimming glow of the bubble. It’s not unpleasant. He’d enjoy it more if he could keep his eye open for longer. 

Barely a minute passes before the Room flickers and goes out. Zoro blinks a few times, and then shifts to look at Law and confirm he’s asleep. He is. Satisfied and finally able to relax, he closes his eye and yields to exhaustion.


End file.
